IT’S NOT THE ELUSIVE 9TH PLANET, BUT ONE THING THAT’S BEEN FLOATING AROUND SPACE RECENTLY IS THE SPACE-X DRAGON CAPSULE. THE CAPSULE IS LOADED WITH MORE THAN FIVE-THOUSAND POUNDS OF EXPERIMENTS AND SUPPLIES FOR THE SIX ASTRONAUTS CURRENTLY LIVING ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION – AND LAST WEEK IT SUCCESSFULLY
DOCKED AT THE STATION.
THIS IS THE 10TH SUPPLY MISSION THAT SPACE-X HAS FLOWN FOR NASA. SPACE-X IS A PRIVATE COMPANY THAT CREATES TECHNOLOGY FOR SPACE EXPLORATION -- AND THE FUTURE COLONIZATION OF MARS – NO, THAT’S NOT SCIENCE FICTION!
THE COMPANY ALSO ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK THAT IT WOULD BE TAKING THE GIANT LEAP INTO SPACE TOURISM, AS TWO THRILL SEEKERS ARE PAYING SPACE-X TO MAKE A TRIP AROUND THE MOON NEXT YEAR. SPACEX C-E-O ELON MUSK ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK THE SPACE TOURISTS HAD ALREADY PLACED A SIGNIFICANT DEPOSIT FOR THE TRIP.
THE TRAVELERS WILL UNDERGO FITNESS TESTS AND BEGIN TRAINING LATER THIS YEAR. THE NAMES OF THE FIRST TWO TRAVELERS HAVE NOT BEEN RELEASED -- AND
SPACEX HAS NOT REVEALED THE PRICE OF THE ROUGHLY WEEK-LONG TRIP. BUT THEY ARE LIKELY PAYING MILLIONS FOR THE ADVENTURE.
Instructional Links
Website Article: SpaceX, Falcon 9 & Dragon to Return Astronauts to Space
Website: European Space Agency, ESA Kids, Space Station | Includes interactive activities & videos
Video: SpaceX, Dragon | Video of Dragon launching, docking with ISS & returning to earth.